Move the mouse cursor around the screen and it will change to different colours as it passes over different objects:

A white cursor is neutral and shows that no action can currently take place.

A yellow cursor indicates that an area can be walked to in the current room. Alex walks very slowly, so it is worth noting that the space key can be held down when walking in order to move faster.

A blue cursor means that Alex can move to a different section of the current room or enter a new room. If Alex has visited a room before, double-click the left mouse button when the cursor is blue to enter the location instantly.

A green cursor means that an object or person in the room can be interacted with. When the cursor becomes green, an icon will also appear below the cursor. The eye icon gives a description of the object or person. The hand icon uses or takes an object. The mouth icon starts a conversation with the person.

Inventory

The inventory can be opened by right-clicking or selecting the inventory button. Select an item from the inventory by left-clicking it and the item will be attached onto the cursor, then select an object or character on the screen to use the item. When the cursor moves over some items in the inventory and an eye icon appears, this means that the item can be inspected more closely.

Hints

Press the hints button at the right of the screen or the enter key to view a list of all the objects in the room. The hints will have blue headers on objects that can be examined, yellow headers on objects that can be used, red headers on characters that can be talked to and green headers if a new scene can be visited. Press F1 or selecting the help button at the right side of the screen to bring up help window which lists all of the keyboard shortcuts.

WALKTHROUGH

Introduction

A short scene is shown at the start of the game where Alex and Lynn are having an argument. The scene can be skipped by pressing the space bar. After the introduction, you will have the option of following the Iron Roses tutorial. The short tutorial goes into detail on what the different icons mean and how the inventory works, but can be skipped by pressing the Skip Tutorial button twice. Part of the tutorial involves picking up Alex’s guitar, so if you decided to skip the tutorial, just select the guitar from behind Alex to take it:

Apologize to Lynn

Open the left door to go to the hall. Talk to Lynn about all topics: She wants Alex to find a job and pay her money back by the end of the week. She suggests checking in the newspaper which she left in the bathroom.

Check the newspaper

Go to the living room (as you’ve already been in the living room before, you can double-click the door to go there instantly). Open the right door to enter the bathroom. Take yesterday’s newspaper on top of the toilet:

Alex notices that the Lethal Dose nightclub around the corner is hiring new staff.

Find Alex’s things

Take the makeup from the slot in the wall. Return to the living room and open the middle door to enter the kitchen. Take the coins from the spare change jar at the left side of the counter:

Exit the kitchen and open the left door to return to the hall. Take the guitar pick on the desk at the bottom-right corner of the room:

Investigate the bookcase to see a close-up. There are many keys on the desk, but the correct one to take is the gold key below the yellow duck:

Select the X button at the top-right corner of the screen to exit the close-up view of the bookcase. Open the left door to hear the landlady outside. Go to the living room and climb out the window to escape the apartment.

Talk to the bouncer

Walk west three screens along the street to the front of the nightclub (remember that the space bar can be held down to make Alex move more quickly). Talk to the bouncer about all topics: He can’t let Alex into the club because there is currently an audition going on. Walk west down the street and enter the alley.

Find the scraps of paper

Talk to Martin about all topics: The sheet music for his songs was torn to bits. Walk west further into the alley and take the nine scraps of paper on the ground:

Open the inventory and examine one of the scraps of paper by clicking the eye icon to start the Martin’s Song mini-game.

Martin’s Song

The nine pieces of paper at the right side of the screen must be rotated and placed into the correct positions on the blank sheet at the left side of the screen. Select the middle of one of the scraps of paper to rotate them or hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to drag the piece of paper. The correct positions that the pieces of paper should be arranged on the blank sheet are shown below:

Give the poem to Martin

Walk west to return to the back door. Talk to Martin and say "Here, I’ve got something that might cheer you up." to give him the poem: He gives Alex his guitar pick. Say "I don’t think they’re bad at all." to start the Play Martin’s Song mini-game.

Play Martin’s Song

Click the notes as they appear above the guitar frets and they will appear on the bar at the top of the screen. The notes appear at different speeds depending on what colour they are: Green notes appear very slowly, yellow notes appear at an average speed and red notes appear very quickly. Make enough notes appear on the bar to complete the mini-game.

Talk to the barman about the job

Talk to Martin about any remaining topics and he will agree to allow Alex into the nightclub. Open the door to enter the storage room. Open the right door to enter the club. Walk west to the tables and talk to Bomb about all topics: He wants Alex to clean up the mess in front of the stage, and also says that if he will play in the band again if Alex can find his sticks and the remaining members of the band.

Clean the stage

Return to the storage room and take the broom:

Return to the bar and go south-west to the stage. Use the broom on the mess in front of the stage to clean it. Return to the bar and talk to Bomb: He wants Alex to take lunch to the manager.

Find the business cards for the manager

Talk to the businessman about all topics: Alex offers to get the amplifier from her house. Talk to the manager about the remaining topics: He won’t pay Alex until all his business cards have been found. Return to the stage and take the garbage bag near the bottom of the steps at the left side of the stage. Return to the bar. Examine the garbage bag in the inventory and take the nine pieces of paper:

Talk to the business man and say "I’ve got your cards right here.": He tells Alex to throw the rest of the garbage away.

Throw away the garbage

Return to the storage room and go through the left door to the alley. Continue west further into the alley and use the garbage bag on the dumpster.

Give the amplifier to the manager

Exit the alley and walk east four screens to return to the alley below Alex’s apartment. Look at the pile of trash at the right side of the dumpster and take a tomato from it:

Use the tomato on the landlady’s window to distract the landlady: Alex will automatically return to the street. Enter the building and use the key on Alex’s apartment door to unlock it. Open the door to enter the apartment. Go to the living room and take the amplifier on the carpet.

Alex says she wants to eat something, so go to the kitchen and take the fresh fruit from the bowl on the table. Leave the apartment and return to the bar in the nightclub. Talk to the businessman and say "Oh noble Sire, I have done thy bidding…" to receive the money. Say "Here’s the amplifier." to give him the amp. The manager tells Alex to get a band together to perform on the stage.

Help Lynn find her notes

Lynn says that she has lost the study sheets for her thesis in the apartment. Start by finding the notes in the hall.

Take the study sheet on the couch, on the shelf of the bookcase and near the bottom of the basket. Enter the living room.

Take the study sheet near the goldfish bowl, on the couch and on top of the TV. Enter the kitchen.

Take the two study sheets on the counter and the sheet on top of the table.

Find Toby’s number

Return to the hall and talk to Lynn about all topics: Alex says she has Toby’s phone number somewhere in the hall. Rummage through the drawer at the left side of the door and take the six pieces of the phone number:

Close the drawer. Look at a piece of the number in the inventory and put the pieces of paper in the correct positions on the blank sheet. Select the middle of one of the scraps of paper to rotate them or hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to drag the piece of paper. The correct positions that the pieces of paper should be arranged on the blank sheet are shown below:

Go to the living room and approach the telephone. Enter the number 425-555-7859 to ring Toby: He mentions that Martha might have some work at the restaurant. Leave the restaurant to see that the landlady is blocking the way downstairs. Talk to the landlady: She wants some ingredients for her grandson’s cake.

Find ingredients for the cake

Enter the apartment and go to the kitchen. Take the flour on the top shelf and the 10 pounds of sugar on the shelf at the right side of the fridge:

Open the fridge and take the milk on the top shelf, chocolate on the middle shelf and eggs on the bottom shelf:

Close the fridge. Return to the landlady and talk to her to give her the ingredients for the cake. Leave the building and return to the bar in the club. Talk to Bomb: He agrees to send Alex an e-mail of his drumsticks. Exit the club and go west along the street to see a taxi. Use the taxi to view the city map, which currently lists only three locations. Many more locations will be added over the course of the game. Select the Internet cafe.

Receive the USB stick

Enter the Internet cafe and talk to George: He gives Alex a USB stick and asks if she can remove the viruses on all the computers. Go to the computers and use the USB stick on one of the computers to start the mini-game.

Clean the Viruses

Click the viruses as they appear on the screen to destroy them. Any viruses that reach the white grid in the middle of the screen will be added to the grid, and if all eighteen squares on the grid are filled you will need to start the mini-game again. After the first computer has been cleaned, do the same thing on the other two computers. The first computer has ten viruses that need to be destroyed, the second computer has twenty-five and the third computer has forty.

Fix the fuse

Return to the cafe entrance and talk to George to get a hundred dollars and free use of the computers. Go to the computers and try to use one of them to see the screens go blank. Return to the cafe entrance and talk to George about the power cut. Enter the back room and take the eight fuses in the room:

Investigate the fuse box and put the fuses in the correct positions:

Fix the printer

Open the right door to go to the back alley. Take the printer cable from the bin:

Return to the back room. Take the scissors at the bottom-left corner of the room and the printer cartridge on the shelf:

Open the left door to enter the Internet cafe. Go to the computers and use the printer cartridge and the cable on the printer at the right side of the water cooler. Use one of the computers and then take the stack of paper from the printer. Exit the Internet cafe and go west to the taxi. Select Martha’s Restaurant on the city map.

Talk to Martha

Enter the restaurant. Walk south to the office and talk to Martha about all topics: She says that she kept some music memorabilia in the drawers of the filing cabinet. Look in the filing cabinet and take the six pieces of the drumstick:

Close the filing cabinet and return to the restaurant. Talk to the head waiter and say "Hello again! Martha told me to give you a hand." to start the mini-game.

The Waitress

Wait until a customer calls to place an order and then click on them to see what food they would like. The food will shortly be placed on the bar, so click the plate on the bar to take it and then click the customer to put the food on the table. As the mini-game progresses, more that one customer will order at the same time, so you will need to remember which customer ordered which food.

Happy Points are rewarded when taking an order, when food is delivered to the correct table and when taking money from a customer. Unhappy Points are rewarded when a food order is delayed for too long or when food is delivered to the wrong table. If you get twenty Unhappy Points the mini-game will need to be restarted. Get twenty Happy Points to win the mini-game.

Find the coffee cups

End the conversation with the head waiter and return to Martha’s office. Take the nine coffee cups:

Return to the restaurant. Talk to the head waiter and say "That’s all the cups." to receive some money.

Get the replacement drumsticks

Leave the restaurant. Go south to the square and enter the music shop. Talk to Zvone to receive two blank stickers. Use the stickers and the printer paper on the decal machine at the right side of the counter. Alex will also buy some grips for the drumsticks for fifty dollars. A cutscene is shown where Alex and Lynn go to the Lethal Dose club to watch Iron Roses’s former guitarist, Crash, performing on stage. Alex notices that Crash’s necklace has dropped to the floor and broken, so she picks it up and decides to try and fix it for him.

Talk to Mr. Jameson

Leave the building and walk west along the street. Enter the club and take the piece of broken jewelry on the floor:

Leave the club. Walk west to the taxi and select the Jewelry Shop on the map. Enter the jeweler’s and talk to Mr. Jameson about all topics to receive six flyers. Exit the shop and go east to the parking lot to start the mini-game.

Parking Flyers

Mr. Jameson mentioned that he wanted a flyer to be placed on the windscreen of each green car. Open the inventory, select a flyer and then select the green car to put it on the windscreen. The green cars are shown below:

Fix the necklace

Return to the jewelry shop. Talk to Mr. Jameson and say "I’ve handed out all the flyers!": He will ask if you have the other piece with you. Providing that you picked the broken jewelry from the floor of the club earlier on, say "Yup, got it right here." to receive the repaired necklace.

Talk to the hotel guard

Return to the taxi and select Crash’s hotel on the city map. Enter the hotel and talk to the hotel guard about all topics. He wants to read the list of current check-ins but says he has lost his glasses around the back of the hotel.

Find the glasses

Leave the hotel and walk east to the back of the hotel. Examine the plants at the left side of the path and take the six parts of the eyeglass:

Look at a part of the eyeglass in the inventory to start the mini-game.

The Eyeglasses

Select the middle of one of the pieces to rotate it or hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to drag the piece. The correct positions that the pieces should be arranged on the outline of the glasses are shown below:

Find a way into Crash’s room

Return to the hotel entrance and enter the hotel. Talk to the hotel guard to give him the glasses. The guard takes Alex to the courtyard and unlocks the hotel door. Enter the hotel and walk east down the hall for two screens. Select the baggage on the trolley with the number 208 to hide in the trolley. The hotel guard pushes the trolley into Crash’s room.

Go shopping with Crash

Talk to Crash about all topics and then end the conversation. Take the broken guitar at the right side of the room and then talk to Crash again about all topics to go shopping. Enter the store and take the jeans, shirts and shoes:

Talk to Crash to play a mini-game.

Dress Crash

Drag a matching set of clothes over to the correct section of the outline. The correct set of clothes to use is shown below:

Ask Zvone to fix the guitar

Talk to Tammy to pay for the clothes. Leave the store and return to the taxi. Select the music shop on the city map. Enter the music shop and talk to Zvone: He says he will fix the guitar if Alex assembles the new shipment of guitars. Walk to the broken guitars at the left side of the shop to play a mini-game.

Fix the guitars

Drag the guitars to the correct positions to complete the mini-game:

Talk to Toby

Zvone will give Crash’s repaired guitar to Alex. Leave the music shop. Go to the taxi and select Toby’s office on the city map. Enter the building. Enter the right elevator. Look in the office and talk to Toby about all topics: He tells Alex to talk to Walter the security guard.

Talk to Walter

Leave the office and walk south to the hall. Enter the left elevator to go up to the security office. Talk to Walter and he will leave the office. Look at one of the monitors on the wall to start a mini-game.

Walter’s cameras

Watch the monitors that lights up and then press the appropriate order of buttons. The number of monitors that light up will increase as the mini-game progresses. Press the correct order of buttons six times to complete the mini-game. Talk to Walter and then look at the monitor on Walter’s desk to start another mini-game.

Find the differences

Click the left side of the monitor in the area where there are differences:

Go to the garage

Talk to Walter to get the garage key. Exit the hotel to travel to the garage with Toby. Alex realises that Bomb hasn’t turned up for rehearsal and that many pieces of the equipment are missing.

Talk to Bomb

Leave the garage. Use the taxi and select the "Lethal Dose" club on the city map. Return to the bar in the club and talk to Bomb about all topics: He says that the garbage needs to be taken out and that bottle caps have to be recovered.

Find the bottle caps

Take the garbage bag near the table at the left side of the room. Look at the garbage bag in the inventory and take the nine bottle caps:

Throw away the garbage

Go south to the stage and take the garbage bag. Go south to the lobby and take the two garbage bags. Return to the alley outside the back of the club and put the four garbage bags in the dumpster.

Convince Knight Publishing to put the contest back on

Return to the bar in the club and talk to Bomb to give him his drumsticks. Exit the club. Return to the taxi and select Knight Publishing on the city map. Enter the building. Enter the office and talk to the businessman about all topics.

Find the amplifiers

Go east to the storage room and take Alex and Crash’s amplifiers on the floor by the water cooler.

Find Toby’s guitar

Leave the building. Enter the taxi and select Walter’s garage. Talk to Toby and Toby’s place will appear on the map. Leave the garage. Enter the taxi and select Toby’s Place on the city map. Use Toby’s key on the door to Mr. Morgan’s condo. Look at the painting on the wall to see the date August 5th 1845. Open the bookcase at the back of the room to reveal a vault. Examine the vault to start a mini-game.

The Vault

The painting had the date August 5th 1845 written on it. August is the 8th month, so 8 will be the first number of the combination. Turn the dial to the number 8 and then press the button in the middle of the dial. The remaining numbers that need to be entered are 51845. Alex will take the guitar from the safe after the correct numbers have been entered.

Find the mask

Leave the condo. Use the taxi and select Toby’s Office on the map. Enter the building. Enter the right elevator. Look in the office and take the tribal mask on the wall:

Find the drum set

Leave the building. Enter the taxi and select Walter’s Garage on the city map. Talk to Bomb and he will ask Alex to find a drum set. Leave the garage. Enter the taxi and select the Music Shop on the city map. Enter the music shop and talk to Zvone to buy the drums.

Find the iron rose and microphone

Leave the music shop. Go to the taxi and select Walter’s Garage on the city map. Enter the garage and put all the parts in the correct places. Only the iron rose and the microphone are left to find. Leave the garage and talk to Crash: He tells Kate to visit her dad’s place. Go to the taxi and select Father’s House on the city map. Enter the house and talk to Alex’s dad about all topics. Go upstairs to the attic and take the five reference books:

Go downstairs and talk to Alex’s dad about the books. Go to the basement and take the iron rose and dad’s old microphone:

Exit the house. Enter the taxi and select Walter’s Garage on the map. Enter the garage and put the iron rose and microphone in the correct places to complete the game: